RELATED APPLICATIONS
There are no applications related hereto heretofore filed in this or any foreign country.
1. Field of Invention
Our invention relates generally to pallets for support of merchandise and more particularly to such pallets formed entirely of paperboard to fold from a collapsed to an erected mode.
2. Background and Description of Prior Art
Supportative pallets have long been used for the transport and storage of various merchandise and are today an essential element in such activities. Over the years of their use, pallet structures have become increasingly sophisticated to meet the varying standards and conditions required of them. The instant invention provides a new and novel member of this class of device that was created to provide normal pallet features and in addition to meet modern day requirements of foldability and construction entirely from paperboard that may be totally recycled as such.
In the past, pallets have commonly been formed from rigid material that has had a rigidity somewhat related to the density and mass of material to be supported. For most ordinary merchandise, pallets were commonly formed of wood. Such pallets, however, are relatively heavy, bulky and expensive and with the increased sophistication and progress of the paperboard arts, various portions of such pallet structures have heretofore been formed of paperboard to alleviate some of the wood associated problems. In general, paperboard material is less expensive and yet may fulfill normal and traditional requirements of a wooden pallet.
The instant invention provides a pallet formed completely of paperboard products, in contradistinction to prior art pallets which have in general been formed only partially of such products. This structure provides a distinct advantage because the pallet may be recycled in its entirety in the normal paper processing arts, whereas prior art pallets that had portions formed of material other than pulped paperboard material could not be recycled by repulping without removing the non-paper portions. The instant construction not only allows a complete recycling operation, but also makes the reclamation process simpler and less expensive and in fact, in many instances, allows the single use of a pallet with subsequent recycling of its materials rather than traditional re-use with attendant reshipping costs, potential pallet damage and handling and storage costs.
Pallet structures of the prior art have generally provided a rigid structure formed by rigid elements that are immovable relative to each other. Such structures provide a maximum of difficulty for transport and storage as they occupy the same volume and remain of the same configuration during these processes. These problems associated with rigid pallets previously have been recognized and responsively, various pallets have been devised that may be reduced to a lesser volume for storage or shipment, most commonly by disassembly or sometimes by movably related parts that allow relative motion to form the inoperative storage mode. In general, both the disassemblable and collapsible pallets heretofore known have been formed of rigid dense materials such as wood, and oftentimes with associated more rigid and more dense metal parts, in order to provide the motions required of such devices and yet provide appropriate strength and rigidity to allow them to serve their intended purposes.
Our invention provides a pallet having foldably related parts that allow its manipulation between an erected mode and a collapsed mode having substantially less volume, but in so doing the entire structure is formed entirely of paperboard materials without any non-paperboard components. It is therefore of substantially less weight and generally less cost than the collapsible pallets of the past formed, at least partially, from more dense non-paperboard materials.
The particular structures of our pallet and the method and manner of fastening the pallet in an erected mode are quite essential to its function and operability. Since the upper and lower pallet surfaces and the columns extending between them for support are all formed of paperboard and since this material does not have excessive strength, these parts must be critically configured and positionally related to each other to provide necessary strength for the erected pallet. This is accomplished by particular structure and mechanical connections that allow folding of the various elements and especially by the side fasteners that are sized, configured and notched to require the proper configuration of the pallet to allow its assembly in the erected mode. The particular method and manner of foldably relating the various relatively movable elements is also quite essential as paperboard normally, by reason of its physical constituency, will not generally admit of the use of various separate fastening elements and hinging devices as heretofore used in the more rigid wooden pallet structures of the prior art.
Our invention, while providing the aforesaid features, still allows the normal structures, functions and amenities of present day rigid pallets. The upper and lower pallet surfaces are planar and allow support of rigid or non-rigid merchandise of substantially the same mass and configuration as ordinary wooden pallets of the same areal extent. The pallets may have the same overall thickness and areal dimensions as traditional wooden pallets and defined paired opposed channels extending inwardly from all four sides to allow access and supportive interconnection with ordinary forklifts of commerce from any of those four sides. Our pallet may provide substantially the same strength, rigidity and durability as ordinary wooden pallets of similar configuration, but with substantially less mass and no greater cost than a wooden pallet.
Our pallet additionally allows its upper surface to be folded immediately adjacent its lower surface, which reduces its volume substantially from the volume of the erected mode and makes that reduced volume very near the theoretical minimum. The erected mode may be established by simple manual manipulation by an unskilled person and, when established it is maintained against displacement until further manual manipulation of its side support structure to allow collapse. It is very nearly impossible for the pallet to be accidentally collapsed without appropriate deliberate manual manipultion.
All parts of the pallet that are interconnected are joined by adhesives that allow recycling in the paper pulping process without disruption of that process. The surfaces of the paperboard from which the pallet is formed may be variously treated to provide at least as great smoothness, lack of porosity and impermability as the surfaces of traditional wooden pallets.
In creating our pallet, we provide a structure that fulfills the modern day demands of the pallet arts for an inexpensive durable pallet that is collapsible to a volume substantially less than its erected volume and yet is formed entirely of recyclable paperboard while providing the amenities of other similar present day pallets. In so doing our invention resides not in any one feature per se, but rather in the synergistic combination of all of the structures and features of the device to create the functions necessarily flowing therefrom as hereinafter more fully specified and claimed.